Only Time Will Tell
by SA-Kate-937
Summary: The cascading events that come from Grissom's speech in Butterflied. How will this affect the team and the people in it. Only Time Will Tell... GSR


A/N: Hey! This is my first fiction ever! But I really, really, really do appreciate criticism and reviews. To understand this story, you have to have watched Butterflied or at least understand what happened during that episode. This story takes place at the end of the eppie.

Anyways, enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 1- A Confession Overheard**

"You killed them both, and now you have nothing," Grissom said to the doctor who he knew had killed Debbie. Though, he could never prove it.

"I'm still here," Vincent Lurie replied, with no emotion clouding his cold voice.

"Are you?"

Only time will tell.

* * *

The door shut as Lurie exited the interrogation room.

'_Had nothing Grissom said, affected him?_' Thoughts floated through Grissom's head. One making no sense at all, but the next, making even less. He was deep in thought, not even apprehending the consequences of the 'confession' Brass had just heard. Maybe he would forget what he heard, maybe he wouldn't.

* * *

Sara was shocked, he'd finally admitted it.

But not to her, to a complete and utter stranger, a vicious murder, none the less. Why couldn't he have talked to her? Life would have been much easier on both of them if he just hadn't been so….. well, Grissom-like. Always avoiding people's emotions, Catherine was the only one who could get him to open up. But, she couldn't. Sara, although she had tried with all her might, couldn't.

It finally all made sense, what had happened the past couple of years, maybe 3 or 4 years, she couldn't remember. What had happened during this case, Debbie Marlin might as well have been her twin, Catherine did have a point in that regard. Grissom had been despondent the whole case, not sleeping, barely eating. He might have burnt out if it wasn't for Catherine. But, Sara was the cause of all of this.

The resemblance between her and Debbie, the resemblance to what Sara had offered, it had gotten under his skin. Finally forcing Grissom to admit his feelings, even if she wasn't supposed to know. She understood now, she could carry on hiding the fact that she loved him. Even if his confession had ripped her heart out, knowing she had to give up on him. Now that she knew, she would have to try and move on.

* * *

Brass coughed, trying to break the nervous tension in the air.

No response came from Grissom.

Brass made a hasty exit, without a word to Grissom. Even if he had the time to think of something to say, he doubted be could pluck up the courage to break the silence. He had no idea what was going on inside that man's head. He started off down the corridor but stopped halfway, and headed for the interrogation viewing room. He had to make sure Grissom was ok, without the tension he had experienced in that room. He opened the door, and was stopped in his tracks by who he saw. He closed the door silently behind him. He came in to stand next to her, hands by his side, looking through the one way glass at the defeated man sitting in the next room.

"You heard what he said," Brass stated, even though it should have been a question.

Sara nodded slowly and turned around to lean her back against the glass, hands in her pockets. A silence permeated the room, clouding the thoughts of both Sara and Brass. She didn't know why Brass was here, he wasn't that sure either now, but he felt it was his duty to talk to Sara.

"Do you wanna talk about it?"

Sara shook her head, "No."

He decided to respect her wishes, and lapsed back into silence. She was like a daughter to him, strong willed and relentless. She never gave up and it was the same in her pursuit for Grissom's heart.

* * *

Grissom couldn't stand this room anymore, he had to get out of there and clear his head. Silently, gathering the things left on the steel table, he left.

* * *

"I thought I could change him." she drew in a raspy breath. "I feel like I've wasted all this time on something that's never going to happen. And yet," she paused, not sure whether to continue, but she trusted Brass, "I can't bring myself to give up on him," Sara finally spoke, voicing her emotions. Brass broke out of his reverie and focused on what she was saying. "But at least now I know why, why he always used to back away, why he was so shook up by this case," she paused and took a breath of air, "His career, his life's work. I knew he had spent his whole life working towards this. But I never thought it would it would consume him this much," her voice broke on the last word and one lone tear fell down her cheek.

Brass turned to look at her, "It happens to the best of us. It happened to me; I lost my family because I spent too much time on the job, and not enough time with them. Sometimes, work just controls our lives, and, in our line of work, it's the hardest not to," he paused when he saw her tear-stained face. After handing her a tissue, he continued, "He made a choice," he paused to emphasize his point, "You deserve better than that old geezer anyways. " He hoped his joke would pull her out of the sadness he knew she felt.

A small smile erupted on Sara's face. "Thanks Jim," she said, and patted him on the shoulder. "I'm going to go home, and get some rest. It's past the end of shift anyways." She let go of his shoulder and started to walk past him towards the door, only stopping when she heard Brass' voice.

"Or earlier, you never know what's going to happen in this town."

"Goodbye, Brass," she said over her shoulder as she exited the room.

Brass watched her leave and went to lean against the bare table in the middle of the dimly lit room, he needed some time to himself.

* * *

Grissom leaned against the wall, resting his head against the brick. He needed some time to think. He closed his eyes and blocked the rest of the world out.

Sara closed the door behind her and was shocked to see Grissom standing there, still looking defeated and lost in thought. She thought he had left, or was still inside the interview room. Why he would stay here, was beyond her. She thought he would want to leave, to avoid bumping into anyone, like she trying to do right now.

She tried to walk past him but tripped over his feet which she had failed to notice were there. His eyes opened and he grabbed her shoulders to stop her from falling.

Regaining her composure, she forced herself to look at him, "Bye, Grissom. See you tonight," she managed to force out before quickly speeding down the hall.

"Sara!" Grissom, almost, shouted. Making Sara stop in her tracks and slowly turn around to face him. With his eyes, he asked the question that they both knew was burning a whole in him.

After what seemed like a few minutes, but was only a few seconds, Sara finally said, "Yes, I did hear what you said," she paused, as if waiting for him to say something, "Don't worry about it." And with a half-hearted gap-toothed smile, she turned around and pushed on the door to the PD, towards her freedom from this tense situation.

Grissom didn't know what was going to happen now that she knew, but if she wanted to talk to him, she would, right?

Or so he thought.

Little did he know that this moment would change both of them. Would this change be for the 'better' or the 'worse'?

Only time will tell.

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A/N- You see that little button next to "Submit Review"? Press it! 


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